Conventional scanned light beam systems, such as those adapted to function as bar code scanners, are available from Microvision, Inc. of Redmond, Wash.
An example of an endoscope application of a medical scanned laser beam imager is given in US Patent Application Publication 2005/0020926. The scanned laser beam imager includes a two-dimensional MEMS (micro-electromechanical system) scanner. The MEMS scanner is a dual-resonant-mirror scanner. The mirror scanner scans, about substantially orthogonal first and second axes, one or more light beams (such as light beams from red, green and blue lasers) through an optical dome at high speed in a pattern that traces a trajectory in a two-dimensional acquisition coordinate system. The scanned laser beam imager uses at least one light detector in creating a pixel image from the reflected light for display on a monitor.
Direct view and camera type endoscopes and laparoscopes are known which are “angled scopes” having a direction of view which is not parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the insertion tube of the instrument.
Software programs sold with digital cameras are known which can rotate a pixel image displayed on a computer monitor wherein the pixel image was uploaded to the computer from the digital camera.
What is needed is an improved method for creating a pixel image from sampled data of a scanned beam imager.